High-lift devices are well known and are typically mounted to a leading edge and/or to a trailing edge of an aircraft wing to provide for additional aerodynamic forces during certain stages of a flight, in particular during low speed stages, e.g. during take-off, climb, descent or landing.
High-lift devices can be embodied as a flap, e.g. a trailing edge flap, or as a leading edge slotted flap, typically referred to as slat. Another type of leading edge high-lift device can be a Krueger flap. Many embodiments of a high-lift device can be possible.
Typically a high-lift device is provided as an airfoil shaped body with stiffeners and ribs inside of the body to provide for sufficient strength and stiffness, having a similar structure as an aircraft wing. High-lift devices usually need to comply with rather severe requirements in terms of bird strike, de-icing, lighting strike, erosion resistance, as well as usual mechanical strength and stiffness requirements. The combination of these requirements often leads to a relatively heavy structure, which is disadvantageous as these devices need to be connected to the aircraft wings thus impacting the payload of the aircraft wing.
There is a need for a relatively light-weight, but high performing, high-lift device. It is an object of the disclosure to provide for a high-lift device that is relatively light weight, and may comply with regulatory and/or other requirements.